DIGITAL HARASSMENT 2

Digital Harassment

The paper examines digital harassment, a form of harassment that is perpetuated using
technologies, such as social networking sites and texting. This type of harassment includes all
forms of emotional and verbal abuse behaviors perpetuated online such as sending insulting
or threatening Facebook messages, text messages, and tweets with the goal of embarrassing
or making the victims feel bad (Love is Respect). The behavior also includes frequently
pressing the victim to send messages or images that they are uncomfortable with such as
sexually explicit content.
Digital harassment has significant negative impact on the person who is subjected to
it. On a mild level, the behavior usually causes discomfort and worry (Powell & Henry,
2017). However, when the harassment persists, it can cause stress and even depression. In
extremely serious situations the victims may contemplate suicide. They may also experience
a lowering of their self-esteem (Love is Respect). Harassment is, therefore, behavior that
often has serious mental and psychological impact on the victim.
There are various ways in which this problem of online harassment can be addressed.
One of them is through communication. It is important for the victim to let the perpetrator
know that they are uncomfortable with their behaviors (Love is Respect). For instance, if the
perpetrator is a romantic partner, the victims should let them know that they are do not like
their partner discussing them in negative light on social media. If the harassment continues,
the victims can change their phone number and social media accounts to prevent the
perpetrator from contacting them (Melander & Marganski, 2020). They can also seek legal
redress. Such redress may include issuance of restraining orders to the perpetrator of the
harassment (Love is Respect). Another way of addressing the issue is contacting domestic
violence centers for professional help. Apart from helping the victim deal with the

DIGITAL HARASSMENT 3
psychological and emotional impact of the harassment, such centers can also help the victims
with legal help.

DIGITAL HARASSMENT 4

References

Melander, L. A., & Marganski, A. J. (2020). Cyber and in-person intimate partner violence
victimization: Examining maladaptive psychosocial and behavioral
correlates. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on
Cyberspace, 14(1).
Love is Respect (n.a). What is Digital Abuse. Retrieved on 12 th June, 2020 from
https://vawnet.org/material/what-digital-abuse
Powell, A., & Henry, N. (2017). Sexual violence and harassment in the digital era. In The
Palgrave handbook of Australian and New Zealand criminology, crime and
justice (pp. 205-220). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.